Resonance
by SonOfTheSky
Summary: As Sparkster and Sherry are thrust into a new world, they attempt to find a way back while also attempting to fight off the armies of a new enemy.
1. The Science Camp

"Sparkster! Come on, I've found the perfect spot!"

The call echoed through the Onyx Forest, startling the birds out of the trees and floating into the ears of an opossum in blue armor, no more than nineteen years old. Smiling, he wrapped up his findings (mostly deep brown chestnuts and ripe crimson strawberries) in a bag and trekked towards the edge of the forest. Grabbing one of the chestnuts, he popped it into his mouth, crushing the shell between his teeth. He chewed slowly, keeping the rest for the one who the voice belonged to.

***

Sherry, princess of the kingdom of Zebulos, was normally a kind and thoughtful person. However, keeping someone waiting for two straight hours does take its toll on an opossum, and she tapped her foot angrily as the blue-armored opossum ambled towards her, carrying a small bag of what looked like snack food.

"Where have you been!?" she said quietly, attempting to keep her temper under control. "You said you were going foraging and it was two hours ago!" Unable to check her anger, she put full vent to her spleen, stamping her feet on the ground. Sparkster laughed.

"Now, now, princess." he chuckled. "Keep acting like that and you won't get any strawberries!" He reached into the bag and plucked out a large berry, obviously picked at the peak of freshness and with skin red enough to make one's mouth water. Unsurprisingly, this was the effect it had on Sherry, it being her favorite food. Her anger forgotten, she sat down, smiling eagerly. Still chuckling a bit, Sparkster dropped the bag next to a picnic basket and lay down on the large terrycloth blanket, watching the clouds drift by. Taking a strawberry from the bag, Sherry lay down next to him.

"You know, sometimes I wish you didn't wear this armor during our picnics. It makes the whole affair seem more..." she grasped at straws, trying to find the word.

"Formal, you mean?" Sparkster suddenly whispered in her ear. She started, then nodded. Sparkster flicked her nose playfully.

"Well, then I guess that's how these picnics will stay, because unless some sort of disaster happens, then I'm not taking my armor off!" Sherry laughed at her companion's cheeky remark and shoved him. Unflinchingly, he reached into the picnic basket and pulled out a cucumber sandwich. As he sat up and started eating, he began looking into the distance, feeling the weight of the sword at his side.

"It's been a long time since we've had any sort of danger, hasn't it?" Sparkster remarked dryly. Sherry gave him a strange look. "I'm not saying I want something bad to happen to the kingdom, Sherry, you know that. But..." He busied himself with eating his sandwich. Sherry sighed, pulling out the other cucumber sandwich, and taking a small bite. Cringing at the taste, she set it down and brushed the crumbs off her lap.

"I should tell you the real reason why I chose to have our picnic here." Sherry stood up, pulling Sparkster up with her. Sparkster raised an eyebrow, still chewing his sandwich. "See, I've been hearing rumors..." Sparkster swallowed and cut in.

"You aren't saying you actually _believe_ the rumors that there's some sort of secret Devotindos operation going on here, are you?" he said, frowning. Recently, a Rocket Scout patrol unit had seen a troop of Devotindos soldiers marching towards the nearby valley. According to the unit's report, the soldiers had been escorting a large band of scientists and a purple-armored opossum, who he easily figured was Axle Gear. Anyone who knew about the soldiers was told to keep the information secret, but someone had let it slip, and now it was a widespread rumor through the whole kingdom. He had given the whole unit a stern talking-to after that blunder. Sherry looked away, with what looked like a speck of doubt in her eyes. The picnic lay forgotten.

"We've tried to keep peace with the Devotindos ever since their invasion. I may not be the ruler of Zebulos yet, but I'm not going to let anything happen! Even if we did win both the war against the Devotindos and the war against the Gedol, we're still recovering from the damage they both dealt! I'm not letting anything happen!" Sherry cried. Sparkster closed his eyes and folded his arms, deep in thought. Sherry stared at him.

"You realize that this would be a completely top-secret and unauthorized mission, correct?" Sparkster said. Sherry nodded.

"And that if your father, or any of the Rocket Knights, find out about this, my position in the Rocket Knights will be compromised, correct?" Sparkster said. Sherry nodded again.

Sparkster smiled, then unsheathed his sword.

"Well then, we'd better get going! It's nearly dark!" Sherry sucked her breath in as Sparkster picked her up. Before she could protest, the pair was rocketing towards Onyx Valley.

***

Axle Gear was frustrated. Despite the large amount of orichalcum that the Devotindos soldiers had mined from the valley's hidden quarry, their scientist team had found no use for it other than to strengthen their armory. Annoyed with the Devotindos' lack of vision, he ended up forcing the scientists to study the orichalcum closer, since they clearly didn't see the potential the metal had. Although he realized that the magical power of the metal was extremely volatile, he didn't care. If their tests came back positive, then he had the power to make everything change, make the world become one under _his_ rule. Slipping into a daydream, he didn't notice the sinewy hog running up to him.

"Axle Gear, sir. The scientists have requested you meet with them in the test chamber. They require your assistance with an urgent matter." The hog said, stuttering a bit as he did so. Axle groaned, not looking at the hog.

"You mean they've requested that I bring them all another round of ale? Ha! Sooey, you know how I feel about them. Tell them I'm not their servant and make sure they get back to work." Axle said, spitting on the ground as he did so. Sooey flinched at Axle's harsh tone.

"Sir, I don't mean to be rude, but... from how they told me to get you, it didn't seem like they wanted ale. In fact, it sounded like something had gone wrong down..." Axle turned his gaze on the unfortunate pig, who went silent and hurried off. Letting out a disgusted sigh, he kept his gaze on the horizon, noting the particularly beautiful sunset. Most of his peers didn't realize that he enjoyed the scenery of Elhorn. Then again, if they did, he'd probably lose a part of his sinister reputation, so he kept it to himself. Noticing a speck, he stared at it, wondering what it could be. If it was a unit of Rocket Knights, they would have to evacuate the surface quick and get to the lower floor of the camp. Slipping on his visor, he started zooming in on the object. At the max zoom, he could clearly make out what it was.

It was just two opossums, one decked out in blue plate armor, the other dressed in a simple green dress. At first he smirked, then laughed. It was not a good sound.

"At last. At last, my chance has come! I'll get rid of Sparkster and get a hostage in the process! Those idiots!" Axle cackled. Heading towards the camp's announcement system, he lowered his voice to a seedy whisper.

**"Attention, Devotindos camp. A Rocket Knight unit is incoming. All personnel to the lower area. Repeat, all personnel to the lower area."** Hearing the loud, marching feet of the soldiers, he looked around the area, which, to the casual eye, looked as if it was an old and deserted military camp, complete with a few rotting Devotindos corpses to add to the effect. Taking out a small cloth pouch, he dumped the contents into his hand and waited.

***

When Sparkster and Sherry arrived at the valley, Sherry couldn't help but gasp. Sparkster himself was a bit put out; the entire place was a nest of the dead. Corpses were strewn across the entire field, and the tents that were still there were badly torn. Sliding down into the camp, the two started looking around, finding nothing in particular.

"This place is awful... what could have happened here?" Sherry remarked as she observed a sad-looking corpse. Sparkster sighed. He hadn't expected such a horrid scene. Certainly he had expected an old camp that the Devotindos had forgotten, but this was more than he had originally expected.

"Foolish little Sherry. You never understood what war truly brings upon us!" Sherry squeaked in fright as a blade pressed against her throat. Sparkster whirled around, his power sword drawn.

"Axle! What the hell do you want?" Sparkster yelled. Axle laughed and pressed his blade tighter against Sherry. She gasped with pain, a drop of blood appearing on her neck. Sparkster gritted his teeth, but stood his ground. Axle simply stuck his tongue out at him.

"What do I want? What do you want? After all, you are the visitor here; the visitor always is under the care of the master." Axle said. "Although it seems that you _have_ to do what I say, unless you want the pretty girl to lose, aha, blood. And we don't want that, now do we?" Sparkster growled at Axle's ploy. The Rocket Scout's report of the science camp was true, yet he fell for the whole scheme. Realizing that he couldn't do anything, he loosened his grip on his sword.

"Good boy. That's it, nice and easy." Axle cooed. Slightly inching backward, he waited until Sparkster had dropped his sword before speaking again. "Good. Very good. You understand that you can't win this one. You both were fools for ever trying to come here!" Axle seemed to frown. "However, it's commendable that you did find us... so I think I'll give you a little gift." Opening his palms, he let go of Sherry, who fell to her knees, rubbing her neck. He revealed a small device in his right hand. In his left, he held a metal ball, no bigger than a marble, with a brilliant copper-and-blue color.

"Have any idea what this is?" Sparkster shook his head, while Sherry mumbled an almost-inaudible 'no'. Axle took the ball and held it up to the sunlight. It gleamed, reflecting light like a polished mirror. "This is a bead of orichalcum, the most powerful metal in the world. With this, I can power anything I want. With a single bead, I could tear this land apart. But I have more... _practical_ uses for it." Placing the bead into the device, he pressed a button.

The strange machine seemed to glow white slightly, and then violently shook, the glow changing to a bright green. Small electric sparks flew off in all directions, and it flew out of Axle's hand, looking for all the world like a tiny spastic robot. Odd seams of purple and green appeared in the air and the entire place began to look as if it was being sucked into itself.

"What!? Impossible! There was no chance of this happening, the scientists ran tests themselves! How could it be happeni-" Axle never got the chance to finish, as he suddenly disappeared into a bright orange portal. Running over to Sherry, Sparkster held her close as they saw the entire camp get ripped apart. Sherry was in tears and Sparkster was in shock. Both could only watch the world morph into bright colors and odd shapes.

"Sparkster... Sparkster, help me..." Sherry mumbled before passing out. Sparkster closed his eyes, blocking everything in his mind. Suddenly, he fell. Slightly losing his grasp on Sherry, they plunged headfirst into a hard substance. The last thing Sparkster heard was "Alpha Unit reporting, sir. We've found the rogue." He then passed out, exhausted.

-------------------------------A/N------------------------------

Well, this is the first thing I've posted in a long time. There are probably some things you're wondering about, so I'll just talk about them now. No, I don't think strawberries are Sherry's canon favorite food, but I don't think anybody really cares right now. As for the odd machine, you'll learn what that is pretty soon. As for the odd effect it had, if you're having trouble imagining it, think of warping back into the world in the Dragon Quest 6 ending combined with the Resonance Cascade from Half-Life 1.


	2. The New World

_"Alpha Unit reporting, sir. We've found the rogue."_

Those words echoed through Sparkster's mind. Down, down he fell, and down he was still falling. All around him was blackness. In fact...

"What?" Sparkster jerked his head forward and realized he wasn't falling at all. In fact, it almost felt like he was floating. Suddenly, the blackness washed away, revealing images of all the adventures he had been on: battling the heart of the Pig Star, using the power of the Seven Holy Swords to defeat the Gedol, and fighting strange creatures wielding energy guns. He also saw many visions that mystified him, such as a man wielding a chain against an army and a terrifying creature with a gigantic machete. He suddenly heard a voice, and turned around. He gasped in wonder.

There he was, staring into himself. His counterpart had his hand on him, restraining his movement and breaking his concentration. Sparkster suddenly lost all feeling in his body, and started having spasms. His counterpart held on doggedly, repeating itself.

"Stay still! It'll be over soon!"

Sparkster opened his eyes. Immediately his hand went to his forehead, attempting to massage the throbbing pain away. His sight slowly coming back to him, he found himself in a dungeon cell. Sitting up, he noticed a white-clad opossum wearing glasses locking his cell door. Quickly jumping to his feet, disregarding the immense pain he was in, he rushed to the bars and grasped them firmly.

"Who are you and why am I in here!? What have you done with Sherry!? Answer me!" he yelled at the doctor. The doctor glared at him, sending chills down Sparkster's spine and having the effect of cooling his senses. Letting go of the cell bars, he paced back and forth, then tried again.

"My apologies, that was rude of me. Who are you?" The doctor kept glaring and pushed his glasses up off his nose.

"Why should I tell you my name, traitor? After all, you wounded me just a few days ago. Although I am surprised you repainted your armor in such a short time, I shouldn't expect any less from a master of disguise such as yourself." He stomped away, leaving Sparkster in shock.

"I'm a traitor... and I... attacked him? But I've never even seen him before!" Falling onto his back, he stared at the murky ceiling of his cell, worrying about Sherry and wondering what was going on.

***

Qassen the doctor walked quickly towards the oaken throne room door. He was troubled; the opossum that had been captured was purported to be the rogue that had sliced into his side three days ago. While he originally was sure that the Rocket Knights had done their job and captured their prey, he was now uneasy, considering that their captive wore completely different armor and had a completely different voice. Then again, he reasoned, he'd have to have multiple pairs of armor to make sure he wasn't noticed in public. How he could change his voice, however, he wasn't so sure about. Knocking on the door, he entered into the presence of the King.

The King, who was around 69 or 70 years of age, was always a source of inspiration and information for Qassen. Whenever something was on his mind, Qassen would seek out his Highness. Bowing low, he greeted the King, who was currently seated on his throne, reading a book.

"Your Majesty, sir... could we talk?" The King looked up from his book, and Qassen stared into the deep brown eyes. He stood up, dressed in a regal gown of aquamarine with gold trim. A crown with a brilliant gem that changed color from burgundy red to viridian green was upon his head.

"Of course, Qassan. Come." His voice was deep, yet never threatening. He began to walk down the hallway leading to the bedrooms with speed surprising for one his age. Qassan had to take long strides to keep up with him.

"I'm beginning to wonder whether our rogue actually is our rogue. He's so different from when I encountered him that I feel like you need to talk with him personally. And he asked for someone named Sherry, I think she's the one we found in his arms in the alley. I didn't see her in the dungeons, do you have any idea where she is?" Qassan blurted out, fumbling on some of the words. The King silenced him with a wave of his hand, stopping at one of the doors.

"My boy, when will you learn to ask one thing at a time?" He said, chuckling. Qassan shuffled his feet and looked away, slightly embarrassed. "The one he was talking about is in this room. Since she is an innocent, she was not given a dungeon cell. I want to talk with her about what's going on." Opening the door, the two opossums entered the room.

"Considering she may be an accomplice, you certainly gave her a cozy room." Qassan whispered. Ignoring the comment, the King walked over to the large bed and shook the body that was resting on it gently.

"Miss... miss. Please wake up. We have some questions." Sherry stirred. Slowly sitting up, she opened her eyes. She cried out as a jolt of pain whipped through her arm, and bit her lip. "Careful now... you've had a rough night. You fell almost three stories to the ground. If it hadn't been for that knight who was keeping hold of you, you would have been much worse off. Instead you just have a fractured arm." As the pain subsided, Sherry looked up at the King and Qassan.

"Who are you?" she whispered almost inaudibly. Qassan stood forward and bowed low.

"My name is Qassan. I am an aide to King Chispa and his wife, the good Queen Xeres. We found you yesterday in an alleyway around the outskirts of the city. You had fallen three stories into there, although how you could have fallen off is confusing, seeing as there's no building that's three stories high around there." Qassan stepped away as Sherry curtsied.

"Well, nice to meet you, Qassan. Nice to meet you, your majesty. My name is Sherry." Chispa pulled up a chair and sat down, his hands folded.

"Miss Sherry, we wish to ask you a few questions about the one that was with you in the alley." Sherry looked at Chispa, waiting for him to continue. Chispa cleared his throat, then went on. "You see, for a few weeks now we've had a rogue Rocket Knight sabotaging our missions. Ransom, theft, all sorts of things. We believe that the one that was with you in the alley may be our rogue, but we wanted to ask you about him first."

Sherry thought a moment, then began to speak. "In all the time I've known Sparkster, he's never done anything to harm others." At this, Qassan and Chispa glanced at each other. Sherry kept going. "He's a sweet person and I don't think he would ever do anything without good reason."

Chispa stood up, grasping Sherry's free arm gently. "Please follow Qassan to the throne room and wait there. I will be with you shortly." Qassan opened his mouth to protest, but Chispa was already gone.

***

Sparkster lay in his cell, wondering how much time had passed and where Sherry was. Hearing a noise, he sat up. He noticed a regally-garbed elderly man walking down the hallway towards his cell.

"Please come with me. You are needed in the throne room." King Chispa opened the door and immediately picked Sparkster up by the scruff of his neck, armor and all. Striding towards the throne room, he muttered to himself. "I don't believe it. Even though it happened before, I didn't think... oh dear..." Sparkster attempted to escape his grip, but was unsuccessful. As they walked through the halls, a few servants gave them weird looks, although most kept working and tried not to snicker.

Sherry and Qassan turned towards the big oaken throne room door as King Chispa entered, bringing with him a wriggling Sparkster. Sherry attempted to launch herself forward to try and free Sparkster, but Qassan held her back. Chispa walked over, set Sparkster down, and sat down on the throne. Slowly, he brought his hands to a steeple position.

"Now, I've brought you both here because I wish to know the truth; Sherry, have you ever seen this knight before?" Sherry nodded silently. "Could you tell me where you know him from?" Sparkster attempted to step forward, but Sherry got to Chispa first.

"Please sir, please don't punish Sparkster. I only meant to make sure the Devotindos didn't attack my kingdom. We're already recovering from two wars, and... oh, please!" Sherry cried. Sparkster stood, dumfounded. Qassan pushed his glasses back up off his nose. Chispa coughed, then cleared this throat. Suddenly, they all heard steps from a hallway in the throne room. All four swiveled to the left of the room.

"Chispa, dear, what's going on?" An elderly woman stepped out, wearing a faded green dress. Chispa walked over warmly and held his arms out, embracing her. Qassan's face brightened, while Sparkster and Sherry looked puzzled. Chispa took the woman's hand softly, and kissed it, kneeling down.

"Nothing you need to worry about, ma chérie. We were just discussing what to do with our these two." He gestured towards Sparkster and Sherry. The woman's eyes widened, then she slapped Chispa upside the head. Qassan tried to hide his smile, while Sherry's mouth dropped open.

"You're so foolish, Chispa! Can't you see that they are the famous Sparkster and Sherry, eternal leader of the Rocket Knights and the princess of his time? Ah well, it's no bother. You never did like history." Turning towards Sherry and Sparkster, her face softened to a slight smile. "I never introduced myself. I am Queen Xeres of the kingdom of Zebulos." At this, Sherry's eyes widened. "I see you've already met my husband, Chispa. We've ruled this kingdom for many long years, seeing it through many times, good and bad." Sherry walked over and curtsied.

"Please, miss Sherry, come with me back to your room. Chispa, would you be so kind as to get Sir Sparkster a room as well?" Xeres asked her wife. Sparkster looked at Chispa, who stared back. Suddenly laughing, Chispa nodded.

"Of course, dear. Come, Sir Sparkster, let me show you to your room." Chuckling quietly, Chispa dragged a reluctant Sparkster to a room in the nearby hallway. Sparkster noticed that Zebulos Castle (which he assumed it was, since it was the kingdom of Zebulos) was must different; while most of the building and framework was the same dusty white marble, most of the smaller doors were more technological in nature with people looking into odd wall-machines or typing codes to enter rooms. Chispa stopped at a small door with a wall-machine, typed on it a bit, then stuck Sparkster in front of it. A light passed in front of his eyes; it wasn't bright enough to cause him to blink, but was still somewhat harsh. He heard a strange voice that came out of the machine.

"Access granted." The same words were shown on the machine, and the door opened. Chispa and Sparkster walked in. Sparkster's eyes widened, then he explored the room eagerly, like a child during Unity Day in the winter. The room had a large bed, a personal bathroom (which bewildered Sparkster to no end), and multiple odd machines, such as a radio communicator and a square cooking machine. Chispa sat down, waiting until Sparkster was satisfied.

"I suppose you'll be wondering where your sword is." Sparkster whipped his head around. He had noticed the lightness of not having a sword at his side in the dungeons, but he hadn't given it much thought until now. "You don't have to worry. Your sword is undamaged, but you probably won't be using it ever again." Sparkster was mystified. Chispa walked over to the cooking machine and started making tea. "You see, we have a museum here in the castle now. We added it a few years ago. We have many items from long ago, but we never were able to find a standard-issue Rocket Knight sword. I had one, but I gave it away long ago. So I'm taking your sword and getting you one of our Zebulos Steelsabers." Chispa sat down, stirring some honey into his tea. "Do you want any?"

"Yes, please." Sparkster sat down and gladly accepted the tea, sipping slowly. Chispa nodded towards Sparkster's armor.

"Your armor is rather outdated as well." Sparkster gave Chispa a look. "I don't mean to offend you, but it's true. I could get my blacksmiths and scientists to upgrade it. Would you like that?" Sparkster thought a while, then nodded. "Very good. You don't have to worry; my blacksmiths and scientists are the best in the kingdom." Finishing his tea, Chispa stood up. "Well, if your all settled here, just take off your armor and I'll be off." Sparkster hesitated.

"Your majesty... I... I never take my armor off." Chispa stood, waiting. "I almost never take my armor off except to treat any wounds, and even then I never take my armor entirely off." Sparkster looked at Chispa in the eyes. Chispa, however, smiled and walked over to a closet, taking out a brown tunic, a belt, and a navy blue habit.

"Sparkster, I know how you feel, since I was the same way when I was a Rocket Knight, but trust me when I say that the benefits will outweigh any doubts you may have. When you are ready to make a decision, you can change into these. I will wait for you at my blacksmith's garage. You'll find it near the entrance to the castle." Chispa placed the clothes onto a couch and quietly left the room. Sparkster flopped onto the bed, thinking. He soon drifted into sleep.

-------------------------A/N-------------------------

Well, here's the second chapter. Now you know what the machine did; It was a time machine, and it sent them forward (specifically, 50 years into the future). You may think you know who the Rogue Rocket Knight is, but don't trust old feelings; after all, it's been 50 years.


	3. Dawn of the First Day

Sherry walked around her room, fascinated by all the trappings. Granted, it was no different from Sparkster's room, but she didn't mind (although she wondered how he would feel if he knew she had been snooping in his room. She had no idea how they had ended up in the future other than the fact that it had to do with Axle's machine... but it was too late to ask him what it was; he was missing and she didn't wish to go out looking for him in the dead of night. Slowly, she slipped off her dirtied dress and put on a nightgown, walking out to a rocking chair on a balcony. She looked out at the sea, soon falling asleep from the relaxing motion of the chair and the washing sound of the waves.

***

"Chispa, do you think this is what your old advisor told you about? The prophecy that the hero of the past would save the future?" Xeres questioned her somewhat drowsy husband.

"What...?" Chispa said, half-asleep. "Oh, the prophecy. Yes, this is probably it, I wouldn't doubt it. But it's too late to think, let's talk tomorrow. Please come to bed before you worry about it too much." He said, yawning. He slipped into the large bed and immediately dozed off. Xeres sat for a while, thinking. Slowly, she rose up and walked out of the room, treading quietly so she wouldn't wake Chispa. She paced up and down the hall, thinking.

***

Axle Gear twisted around to avoid Sparkster's parry and lashed out with his fist. Sparkster caught it and twisted, then jetted away with a burst of flame. Axle bit his lip till it bled, then began a fast sequence of rapier thrusts with his sword. Sparkster flipped over them and came down with a spinning slash. Axle felt blood run down his arm as it was cut to the bone by Sparkster's brutal attack. With one last burst of energy, he tossed his blade at his enemy before falling unconscious. Sparkster attempted to dodge, but misjudged the speed of Axle's toss and felt the cloth robe he was wearing tear in half, gashing his chest. He fell to his knees, taking the ripped robe and wrapping it around his chest as a bandage...

A cloth robe?

Sparkster sat up. He was in his room. A dream? He sighed.

"What was that? And why was I..." He looked at himself. He was clothed in the tunic, habit, and belt Chispa had given him the night before. And, other than his flight goggles, his armor was missing. Leaping off the bed, he began to search the entire room. His yellow hair flopped between his eyes.

"Where could it be!? If Chispa did this, he's going to be getting a surprise... boy will he get one..." Sparkster muttered as he poked his head in a closet. "Nope, not there either..." Sparkster ran a hand through his hair. While it was certainly liberating not to be in a large set of hot, stuffy, metal armor, he felt somewhat naked without it. The armor was his life; he had forged it himself, along with his sword and his flight goggles. He just hoped that Sherry didn't see him like this, although since he couldn't stay inside his room all day, she was bound to see him before long. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair again and slipped the habit's hood up. At least someone might not recognize him now. He slipped outside and looked through a window. It was still dark, although the moon was low in the sky.

"Good... I still have some time." He slipped quietly through the halls, peeking into a doorway every once in a while. "Most of the rooms here are bedrooms..." Sparkster poked his head into the doorway at the end of the hallway opposite the one he had come from. The room was almost exactly like his and was relatively empty, except for Sherry, who was asleep in a chair on the balcony. Blushing, he tiptoed in and looked around. "I bet that whoever took it hid it in here just to spite me!" Rummaging through the room, he heard shuffling and a snicker behind him and stood stock still. He turned around slowly and saw the queen chuckling quietly at him.

"What are you doing in there, Rocket Knight?" She asked. Sparkster didn't move his feet, and tried to motion the queen to leave, unsuccessfully. She kept chuckling and left, beckoning him. "Come with me, hero. I think it would be good if we talked." Curious, Sparkster left the room and followed her out to a wide balcony behind the throne room. She sat on a comfortable-looking cushion, staring out at the seaside and drinking tea.

"Alright, what's the matter?" Sparkster asked as he walked out onto the balcony. Xeres pointed to a cushion next to her. Sparkster kept standing, and she sighed in annoyance. "We don't stand on ceremony nowadays quite as much as you do from your time, not that it was all that long ago. I know you'll get uncomfortable standing all night, so you may as well sit down." Sparkster sat, a sheepish grin on his face. "So what's up?" He asked.

"You're just like Chispa when he was younger. He never wanted anybody to see what he looked like under all his Rocket Knight armor. You're quite like him, in fact, but different somehow. Chispa is a bit more... I don't know. Wiser, maybe, but that's only due to his age and experience. You... something about you is strikingly familiar." She set down her teacup. "Tell me about your time, please. We have a little time before the Captain wakes up and begins the morning drills, and I'd love to hear about it."

* * *

A tiny ray of sunlight landed on Sherry's face, and her eyes fluttered. Yawning, she curled up in her chair and tried to block out the light, to no avail. She felt a small gust of wind pass her by, and she opened her eyes wearily. She saw a suit of purple armor on the edge of the balcony and blinked. "A...xel?" She rubbed her eyes, and the figure was gone. "Must have just been a dream..." She mused. She sat up in the rocking chair and heard a 'plink' at her feet. She picked up the small, golden bead lying on the ground. She picked it up, and the small streak of sunshine reflected off of it. Slipping it into the pocket of her nightgown, she went into her room to get dressed. She was just slipping on her travel dress from the day before when she heard a low BOOM! from outside. Rushing out, she saw what looked like a sea of smoke rising into the air, then parting into multiple paths. She ran out the door and sped through the hallway until she saw Sparkster and the Queen.

"Sparkster! Queen Xeres! Thank Zebulos I found you! There's something going on outside and it looks like trouble!" Sherry ran into Sparkster and caused them both to crumple onto the ground. Xeres shook her head, tut-tutting.

"Miss Sherry, you have nothing to worry about. That's just Captain Gear and the recruits doing the morning exercises. Pay it no mind. In fact, why don't you and Sparkster go and join them? I'm sure they wouldn't mind." Sparkster's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Join them in the middle of a training session, while endangering the princess!? Are you insane!?" Sherry whipped around, face scrunched.

"Sparkster! We can join them! I'll be fine!" Sparkster took up a defensive stance at the door leading away from the balcony. "No, Sherry. You could get hurt, or worse! I'm not gonna allow it. Not this time." Xeres smiled and walked over to a wall. Pressing a brick, the wall folded open to reveal a compartment of rocket packs. Sherry jumped in happiness and ran over, grabbing one, much to Sparkster's horror.

"Sherry! What are you doing!?" Sparkster had no more time to argue, as Sherry had strapped on her rocket pack and leapt off the balcony. Sparkster just stood there, dumbfounded. Xeres walked up and strapped a rocket pack on him, shocking him out of his stupor. "You'd better get rocketing, Sparkster. She'll have too much of a head start otherwise!" Shaking his head, Sparkster charged his pack and zoomed after Sherry.

* * *

Qassan checked his rocket's valve as he sped across the valley, performing some loops. "Pressure... check." He looked forward at his goggles and saw the neon blue heads-up display inside the lenses. "Goggles... check." He reached towards his back and drew his sword. It was nothing fancy, a simple steel blade with a bronze hilt, but he had made it himself and he was proud of it. He admired the blade for a while, then put it away and looked in front of him.

"Wha-" Qassan ducked just in time as a green blur sped past him. He set his jetpack to hovermode and stared at the odd sight. "That looked like that girl we found yesterday... but..." He suddenly felt a whoosh above his head, and saw Sparkster rushing away in the same direction. "Wait... Sparkster's chasing... that means that was... the Princess!" His eyes widened and he jetted after Sparkster.

* * *

"Son, I'm sorry, but you can't join us during our training, and that's final! Go back to the castle and wake up your mother." Captain Gear tried to speak soothingly, but it ended up sounding more like he had a sore throat than anything else. The little opossum in front of him stuck his tongue out at his reflection in his father's dark violet armor.

"Bleh! You and the other Rocket Knights can't tell me what to do!" The little opossum stomped away unhappily. Captain Gear sighed. "Bevel, when will you ever learn?" Looking out, he noticed three smoke trails heading in his direction. "What are they doing? That's not part of the morning routine." Jumping up and slowly jetting out, he moved in front of the three figures.

"Hold steady there! Set your jetpacks to hovermode and stay there!" Captain Gear yelled and held out his hands in a defensive pose. As he saw the figures get closer, his hand withdrew to his sword.

WHAM!

Sherry and the Captain collided, with Sherry laughing wildly and the Captain hanging onto her rocket pack. "Miss, what on earth are you doing!? Rocketpacks are for trainees and knights only!" Sherry looked back and stared. Captain Gear felt a foot clang into his armor, and saw Sherry wince in pain. "If I may give you a tip, since you won't listen to me otherwise?" Sherry nodded. "Shift your weight around and use the boost grips on the sides of your pack. You'll move better." Captain Gear then let go and jetted past her. Not wanting to be outdone, Sherry boosted her pack and sped after the Captain. Sparkster, noticing the jet of speed Sherry had put on, sighed in defeat and headed back to the castle.

* * *

"You did well out there, miss Sherry. With a little training, you could probably be a good Rocket Knight!" Sherry shook here head, smiling. "I don't think so. It's much too dangerous for my liking. This was just a jab at my friend for being too overbearing. I hope he didn't take it _too _out of context." Sherry cradled her chin in her hand, deep in thought. "You know, I never caught your name." Captain Gear smiled. "Captain Axle Gear of the Zebulosian Rocket Knights, at your service. I prefer being called Axle, however." He frowned at the look of shock in the girl's face. Had he done something wrong? "Miss?" He shook his hand in front of her face. Tenderly grasping her hand, he tugged slightly to shake her out of her stupor.

It worked. Sherry whipped her hand out of his and sprinted the rest of the way into the throne room. "Sparkster, Your Majesty! What have you done!?" She ran breathless into Sparkster's chest, knocking the wind from him. His arms instinctively closed upon Sherry. She looked at Chispa. "Your captain of the Rocket Knights just told me that his name is Axle Gear!" Sparkster tensed. Axle? Captain? "Sherry, are you sure? This old geezer can't possibly be Axle Gear." Captain Gear let out a loud bark of laughter at Sparkster's statement and didn't stop until he was wheezing on the ground. "Not... hoo-hoo... not much foahahahaha... for manners, are you, kid? Old geezer... pffffhahahahahahahahahaha!" Captain Gear broke out into a second bout of laughter, and both Chispa and Xeres couldn't help smiling. Qassan emitted a lough cough, which earned him a slightly miffed look from Sparkster.

Sparkster was frustrated. He couldn't see why anybody was laughing; if this really was Axle Gear, then a wanted criminal was in this room. "If you're really Axle Gear, then answer me this. Have you ever killed before?" The laughter abruptly stopped, and the smiles were gone from all the faces. Axle picked himself up off the floor and stared straight into Sparkster's eyes. "Why not ask yourself the same question." Axle stepped into a fighting stance. "You look like a Rocket Knight, but I've never seen the likes of you before." Chispa picked up a small wooden cane near his throne and slammed down on the floor twice, creating a loud boom. "Silence! Axle, be courteous to our guest." Sparkster smirked, but it was a brief victory. "And Sparkster, I can personally attest that this is Axle Gear and I can personally guarantee that he is not here to cause trouble!" The sternness in his voice was obvious. "Axle, I'm certain you know of Sparkster and Princess Sherry. It is a long story, but they have somehow warped through time to our age." The tension dissolved as Chispa took charge. "Now, down to business. Captain, you are dismissed." Axle bowed low and left the room. "Qassan, would you notify the scientists that I will be visiting them later today?" Qassan made an elegant leg, and left the room as well. Xeres turned to Sparkster and Sherry.

"Chispa and I think it would be a good idea for you to get your bearings and explore the capital city. You've warped through time and things have likely changed, so it would be a good idea to know your surroundings." She handed Sherry a pouch of small red jewels. "I must warn you that we have had some troubles as of late. A rogue knight has been causing trouble, and there have been some riots in the shadier parts of the city." She chanced a look at Sparkster. "However, I'm sure that you'll be able to protect her in case of trouble, yes?" Sparkster nodded. Chispa cleared his throat. "Sparkster, I'm sure you're wondering where your armor is. I have it being retouched and remade right now, and the same goes for your sword. When I meet with the science team this afternoon, I will ask them if it has finished. It may not be, seeing as I have most of them trying to figure out a way to send you back home." Sparkster nodded. "That is all. You are dismissed!" And with that, Sparkster and Sherry found themselves in the front courtyard of the castle. Sherry smiled.

"C'mon! Let's see what the future is like!" She dashed past him, full of enthusiasm. Sparkster sighed and chased after her.

A/N---------------------------------------------------

Been a while since I've uploaded to this, hasn't it? I lost my inspiration for a while due to increasing homework and schoolwork, but now I'm back.

Sorry about the large amount of filler so far, but I think the next chapter will be a bit more action-y.


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